If you've been keeping up with your Refinery29 missives over the past week, you know that two of us have been a bit busy. Starting in NYC then off to Miami, Chicago, and San Francisco—all in just 10 days—our mission was to discover the true spirit of cool French women (here in the U.S.) in honor of YSL's brand-new fragrance PARISIENNE. As you can imagine, we encountered so much more than just pain au chocolat and piles of good frites (and they were GOOD). Here are the best parts…and thanks YSL for inviting us along. Our inner French girls adore you.
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1. Having a pain au chocolate, croque monsieur, quiche, a chocolate walnut cookie, and bread pudding all in one breakfast at the mind-blowing Tartine bakery in San Fran. Thank god there isn't one in NYC.2. Stocking up on artist's books at the totally fantastic, we-wish-it-were-in-New-York Golden Age bookstore in Pilsen, Chicago.
3. The beautiful chaos that was Jim Drain and Naomi Fisher's Miami studio in the Design District. (And then running into our friends Francesca and Garth a block from said studio and getting a sneak peek at Francesca's new solo show for Basel.)
4. Discovering Gravel & Gold in The Mission—a treasure trove of perfect vintage objects and the best collection of striped vintage tees for 20 clams each. (Oh, and we discovered this book there too.)
5. Spending way too much money thrifting in Miami at Fly Boutique and Angel's Vintage. Our scores: Leopard Jacket, velvet carpet bag, and an amazing rhinestone and silver choker that could be Tom Binns!
6. Our beds at the James Hotel, Chicago. We slept like the dead.
7. Getting slap happy at O'Hare airport and pointing at things with our feet (those early morning flights make us loopy).
8. Holy flaming cocktails, Batman! The fiery Blue Blazer at Absinthe magically cured what was ailing us (and came with a free history lesson on spirits in San Fran).
10. Getting lots of great bonding time with our girl Yvie.